How to export your data from HubSpot Marketing Hub

The effort depends mainly on how many records you hold, how many associations you need to keep, and how many custom objects sit alongside contacts and companies. A small database with a few hundred contacts and standard properties can be exported through the interface in a short session. A large portal with years of contact history, deals linked to companies and tickets, and several custom objects takes more planning, more file handling and more checks afterward. HubSpot's record export covers contacts, companies, deals, tickets, custom objects and other CRM records as CSV, XLS or XLSX files sent by email link, so the work is largely about organizing the files and verifying them. Ask for a written inventory of object counts and association types before any estimate, because that inventory is what turns a vague effort into a scoped one.

Yes, a marketing operations or CRM administrator with access to the account can run record exports from the interface without outside help. The limits are practical rather than technical: exports arrive by email link, files must be checked for property values and associations, and anything the interface does not carry must be pulled separately. Teams with a small number of object types and a clear idea of what the new platform needs often handle the export in-house and bring in help only for the harder parts. Teams that need repeatable pulls, complete association graphs or a sync that runs during cutover usually find that scripting against the API is the point where internal skills run short. Confirm internally who has super admin rights and who can read the export files before you start.

Admins need account permissions to run exports, a clear list of the objects and properties to keep, and time to review the output. Developers are needed when the export must go beyond the interface. The CRM Contacts API supports reading, creating, updating and upserting contacts, and its batch endpoints are limited to 100 records per request, so a script must page through data, handle retries and log failures. Developers also map HubSpot property names and internal IDs onto the fields your target system uses, and they handle any dedupe logic. Plan for a named owner on each side, a test export on a sample of records, and a documented reconciliation step that compares counts between HubSpot and the new database.

HubSpot allows up to 300 exports per rolling 24 hours, so the limit is about the number of export jobs, not the number of records in each file. Teams should plan exports by object type and by date range, run the largest jobs first, and leave time to rerun a job that fails or returns an incomplete file. Because the window is rolling, a burst of test exports can block the production export you need later the same day. Schedule test runs early, keep a log of every export job with its object type and time, and avoid running several exports at once from different admin accounts. Confirm with HubSpot's current documentation how the limit applies to your account type before you set a cutover date.

Download the file and store it in a controlled location as soon as the export email arrives. The export guidance in HubSpot's knowledge base describes emailed links that expire, and the exact window should be confirmed in the documentation for your account. Do not rely on an email in a personal inbox as the archive. Save each file with its object type, export date and the HubSpot account name, record a checksum, and keep a copy in encrypted storage that your security team approves. If a link expires, run the export again, which counts against the daily limit. For regulated data, the storage location and access log become part of the migration evidence you may need to show later.

Record exports do not reliably give you everything in one pass, especially for complex association graphs, engagement history and custom objects with many links. Teams usually need the API for these gaps. Before you write scripts, list every record type and association you must keep, then test whether each one appears in the file. Items that often need separate handling include email engagement, form submissions, and marketing contact status. Marketing contact status matters for the new platform because only contacts set as marketing contacts count toward HubSpot's contact tier. Confirm each gap with a sample record in your own portal before you assume it is covered.

A consultant or partner is worth considering when the export affects a live marketing operation, personal data needs controlled handling, or the target platform needs a clean import. DeployOpen plans, implements and documents self-hosted open-source platforms in your own infrastructure, and most engagements are fixed-scope with scope, deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts. DeployOpen does not publish a price list, so the quote follows from the written scope. Ask any provider for a written statement covering the object inventory, the export method, the API work, the file storage and checks, and the reconciliation report. Ask who performs the work, how data is handled during transfer, and what happens to any copies after the project ends.

Estimates depend on inputs you control, so gather them first: object counts by type, the number of associations to preserve, the number of custom objects, the marketing contact count, and the target system's import method. Cost components include internal staff time, any consultant fees, API development, storage for exported files, and reconciliation. Some items are one-time, such as the export and mapping work, while others recur if you keep HubSpot running during a transition. The major cost driver is usually the number of record types and links, not the file size. Ask any provider to price each component separately so you can see which parts you can take in-house.